


second first kiss

by averyblue



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Friendship/Love, M/M, sassmaster smartass changkyun, side showho and hyungki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-05-31 18:07:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15125015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/averyblue/pseuds/averyblue
Summary: “Changkyun, the loser who stole my first kiss lives across the hall!”“Great, you should say hi.”





	1. (prologue) first first kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yawawoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yawawoo/gifts).



> minhyuk has been chaotic gay since '93  
> so here  
> please enjoy

First kisses are special. That’s what the cartoons on TV say. With all the Disney movies Kihyun hyung drags Jooheon to watch with him, kindergarten-aged Jooheon grows to believe that:

 

 **A.** First kisses are meant for your one true love

and 

 **B.** First kisses are meant to be given when you’re a grown up

 

Ten-year-old Jooheon’s dreams for his first kiss shatters when the boy who lives across his house invites him to the playground and kisses him right on the lips, right after they played in the swings for half an hour.

Lee Minhyuk, with wide brown eyes full of wonderment and mischief, scrapes on his knees for playing volleyball every day, and a chipper raspy voice that strikes fear into the hearts of elementary teachers. Lee Minhyuk, who Jooheon likes because he’s Kihyun hyung’s funny best friend who plays Pokémon with him and gives him nice trading cards for free.

Jooheon can never forget Lee Minhyuk and his bright, sunny smile especially after he gave Jooheon his first kiss and said, “I like you so much, Jooheonnie-ya. I can’t leave without telling you that.”

And Lee Minhyuk does leave the neighborhood, taking Jooheon’s first kiss along with him.

Two years later, twelve-year-old Jooheon decides take is too light a word. Lee Minhyuk **stole** it.

 

* * *

 

“Man, Changkyun, how do people do it?”

“Do what?”

Jooheon rolls his eyes. “Get a date.”

Changkyun lowers his phone onto his lap. “Did you sniff Sharpies again?”

“Shut up, that was one time.”

“No, really.” Changkyun sits up properly, phone screen locked, and stares at Jooheon concernedly. “What’s up?”

Jooheon sighs. Normally it would be embarrassing to pour his heart and soul to anyone about romance, but Changkyun, who only gives a flying fuck about his ‘OTPs’ (whatever that meant, Changkyun could be weird as shit sometimes), wouldn’t judge whatever left Jooheon’s mouth… most of the time.

But he had no one else. Literally. They’re the only ones in the room right now.

“I just, I dunno… the place is swarming with couples recently,” he begins.

Changkyun smirks. “And you feel lonely.”

“No,” Jooheon barks. _But then I’d be lying_. “Well, kinda? I mean… I wonder how nice Hyunwoo hyung and Hoseok hyung feel to have each other.”

Changkyun’s expression turns sour. “Don’t wonder. Please. I live with Hoseok hyung and every single detail of their gym regimen is drilled in my head. Don’t give me war flashbacks.”

“Fine,” Jooheon huffs. Who’s a better example then? “Kihyun hyung’s been going on dates too.”

“Wait, dating? So you mean... he and Hyungwon hyung are now steadily dating? Since when?”

“…last month. Maybe you’re the one sniffing Sharpies, Kyun.”

“Not the point.” Changkyun leans forward with furrowed brows and unlocks his phone, seemingly texting Hyungwon _ur dating the shrimpman and u didnt tell me?!_ Jooheon tries not to think about Changkyun not denying the Sharpie accusation. “So you feel lonely seeing our friends dating.”

“…yeah.” Jooheon pouts. Last year, Hyunwoo and Kihyun had been very single, and suddenly the two of them decided to leave Jooheon behind in the dating game by finding themselves some arm candy, oddly around the same time too. It’s not exactly the best feeling.

“You know what you should do?” Changkyun chirps. “Go to the gym.”

“What the fuck.”

The younger boy shrugs. “I mean, if you’re comparing yourself to our hyungs, then you should remember they all met in the gym.”

“But I don’t wanna,” Jooheon whines. Why the hell would he try looking for love in The Republic of Sweat?

“Suit yourself,” Changkyun hums. And suddenly, he looks at Jooheon with utmost seriousness this time. “Look, hyung, love will come your way. Even when you go on dates, that doesn’t guarantee you’ll fall in love or at least find someone you want to be in a relationship with, right? Let it be, love will come knocking on your door when you least expect it.”

Despite Changkyun’s eccentricity, he always gives Jooheon a reason to remember why they’re best friends when he actually gives Good Advice™.

And he also gives Jooheon a reason to fear his words the moment two consecutive knocks on the door echo in his dorm room.

Even Changkyun’s eyes are wide in shock.

“How did you–“

“Don’t say voodoo or black magic. I’m a good Christian boy,” Changkyun shoots with a glare.

Jooheon’s heart practically jumps out of his chest with another knock on the door. He points at it nervously, hoping that maybe Changkyun feels responsible and opens it instead, but the younger boy’s ass must be too glued to the sofa as he motions Jooheon to get the door. Jooheon, being Jooheon, approaches the door slowly while his heart races to an unholy pace.

Will this… really be love knocking on his door?

...

Of course not.

It’s just Shin Hoseok.

Jooheon lets out a sigh of relief and smiles at his older friend. Looks like Changkyun really isn’t practicing anything supernaturally sketchy.

“Heonnie~” Hoseok coos, pinching Jooheon’s cheeks like he always does. It’s cute and endearing… and painful. He lightly slaps Hoseok’s hands away from his face.

“Hi, hyung,” he greets with a small smile. “Why are you here?”

Hoseok shrugs, and Jooheon wonders if he’s just doing it to boast his broad shoulders, courtesy of great workouts with Hyunwoo. “I just helped a friend move in. Oh, and I’m picking up my very special favorite roomie, of course.”

“I didn’t know your friend was moving here,” Changkyun calls, still not budging from the sofa. It’s really concerning how Changkyun seems very content in burning a hole on the couch.

Hoseok waddles straight to Changkyun and engulfs him in a hug. “I missed you today~ and so did Hyunwoo, so the three of us are going to eat dinner together.”

“It’s still 3 PM,” Changkyun says.

“Yeah, but I promised Hyunwoo I’ll cook dinner, and–“

“You need me to help you cook, I gotcha,” Changkyun finishes. The younger boy sighs as Hoseok lets him go, and they start a little banter because Changkyun laughs at Hoseok for not inviting Hyungwon over to cook with him this time.

And then Hoseok begins talking about stuff like going to the grocery first and what recipe he’s planning (“No, hyung, we won’t be using protein powder.” “Changkyunnie.” “No.”), and then starts gushing about how everything should be perfect for Hyunwoo. As much as Jooheon wants to eavesdrop about ‘just relationship things’, he’s more interested in finding out who the newcomer in their building is.

He moves to the hallway and gawks. The door across his is open, and standing inside the still-unfurnished dorm room is a fairly taller man in a plain gray shirt and jeans. With blond hair.

A foreigner? No, Hoseok doesn’t know a lot of languages.

A pseudo-celebrity? Maybe, because Hoseok _is_ pretty Instagram-famous himself.

A potential love interest?

Maybe Changkyun is right about love knocking on his door (via Hoseok). This being a coincidence is just too unlikely. Unless Changkyun is... no, good Christian boy Changkyun would castrate Jooheon if he finishes this thought.

His breath hitches when his new neighbor slowly turns, as though he’s in one of Hyungwon’s favorite romantic comedy dramas, expecting a good-looking guy with a stellar smile. (Which, to be fair, is very possible since most of Hoseok’s friends have that trait.)

And he’s right.

Blond man is good-looking with a stellar smile.

But it’s nothing for Jooheon to smile about. Not when he looks like Lee Minhyuk, with the same wide brown eyes that carry stars and the same kilowatt smile that blinds like the sun.

 _This is just a coincidence_ , Jooheon thinks to himself,  _it's too unlikely to be fate._

"Jooheon? Lee Jooheon? Is that you?"

_Fuck._


	2. the reunion pt. 1

The day Jooheon met Lee Minhyuk was the snowiest day of his youth. He was freezing behind the playground merry-go-round, his little jacket and dark pants coated with layers of snow as he hid from snowball-armed Kihyun hollering, “Jooheonnie! I have a surprise for you!” Oh, what an evil hyung Jooheon had.

Lee Minhyuk literally snuck in Jooheon's life that day, suddenly appearing at Jooheon's side with a smile so, so kind and eyes so, so full of excitement.

“You Jooheon?” Lee Minhyuk had whispered, back when Jooheon still didn't know his name. Jooheon was in awe, gaping at this new kid, scared and startled because he might suddenly yell for Kihyun and expose Jooheon's hiding place.

“Don't worry, I'll save you, just promise you'll be my friend 'kay?” He had said it in a hushed way so convincing that young Jooheon slowly nodded, still unsure but wanted nothing else than to be saved from Kihyun's plan to kill him with frostbite and turn him into a personal snowman.

Then Lee Minhyuk smiled a bright, friendly smile. Sure, he was missing one of his incisors,  but so was Jooheon, and missing the same tooth somehow made Jooheon think this kid was a good person. And the boy began scooping snow in his hands until it was the size of a baseball.

“Watch this,” Lee Minhyuk smirked, and he jumped out from behind the merry-go-round and threw the snowball with all his might.

Jooheon wasn't able to see it, but the soundful 'poof!' on thick cloth and Kihyun's deafening, “I will kill you, Minhyuk!!!” followed by Lee Minhyuk's boyish cackle as he ran away made him believe that Lee Minhyuk was worth trusting.

Oh how his opinion had changed after a few years to the point he wanted to pretend Lee Minhyuk was only a memory in his childhood.

Like right now, when his brain keeps screaming _kiss stealer!_ while his mouth says, “D-Do I know you?”

Hey, who knows, maybe he's not Lee Minhyuk; maybe he's just a friend of Hoseok who looks like Lee Minhyuk (only blonder), smiles like Lee Minhyuk (only now with a full set of adult teeth), and sounds like Lee Minhyuk (only deeper, more mature).

…this isn't helping his case.

“Wha-you're joking, right? You really don't remember me?” The man smiles and places a hand on Jooheon's shoulder. “It's me! Lee Minhyuk!”

 _Shit_ , Changkyun really summoned the devil.

Jooheon awkwardly laughs. What else can he do anyway?

“Which Lee Minhyuk?” An answer so dumb (but also valid) that Lee Minhyuk just blinks at Jooheon with his mouth ajar for a good ten seconds.

And then he pouts with the bottom of his lip protruding so much that his younger face flashes in Jooheon's mind. “I gave you _soooooo_ many plushies before, Jooheon,” Lee Minhyuk whines, crossing his arms. “And Pokémon cards! Hello, hello, I'm that Lee Minhyuk!”

Jooheon is honestly speechless. He can see the disappointment in the man's eyes and hear the cracks of desperation in his voice. And really, he does feel sort of guilty for asking that question, because even if Lee Minhyuk had stolen his first kiss, Lee Minhyuk had also been a good friend to him.

He still has all the plushies Lee Minhyuk had given him too… because his mom doesn't want to throw good gifts out, that's all.

“Lee Minhyuk from elementary?” Jooheon tries, hoping he can fool the man to believe he really has met, like, seventeen other Lee Minhyuks to ask.

Thankfully he does buy it. For good measure, Jooheon adds, “The one who used to live across our house?”

“That's me!” Lee Minhyuk smiles. And he inches closer to Jooheon at a speed lightning would be jealous of, that Jooheon fails to duck or run in fear that Lee Minhyuk is planning to kiss him again, only to be embraced tightly with gentle side-to-side swaying.

God. Jooheon’s heart is thumping almost painfully in his chest out of panic.

“Yay! You remember me!”

 _Well, no shit, hyung._ “It’s been a long time,” he chuckles awkwardly, squeezing his eyes shut when Lee Minhyuk’s hug gets even tighter.

“I’m so happy!” Lee Minhyuk moves away from him but still has his arms around Jooheon’s neck, making the younger scream internally _red flag red flag Jooheon move!!!_ “Funny how we’ll be living across each other again!”

No way, not funny. “Haha, yeah, it’s hilarious.”

“Since we’re neighbors again, it’s your responsibility to show me around, ‘kay?” Lee Minhyuk says, eyes full of enthusiasm. “Oh, oh, tonight! Show me around tonight!”

Oh, hell no! This is where he draws the line. “Maybe another time, hyung… I-” _Shit._ What’s a good excuse? “-am gonna have dinner with my friends tonight.”

With this, Lee Minhyuk pouts again. Jooheon hopes he won’t suggest joining him. He’d even sell his soul to Changkyun or something since 1. he wants to sort his thoughts out first before interacting with Lee Minhyuk again and 2. he doesn’t even have dinner plans with anyone tonight. Lies beget more lies and if Lee Minhyuk jumps on the dinner train, then Jooheon is royally screwed.

“Damn,” Lee Minhyuk sighs. “Why do all my friends have dinner plans… this sucks…” He looks at Jooheon with sad eyes, quickly shifting to a smile again. “Ah, whatever. Tomorrow, then? Reserving my slot for a dinner date with you!”

Dinner date. Date. _Date_. Oh no.

Jooheon smiles weakly. “I’ll see first.”

Of course Lee Minhyuk’s smile widens. “That’s a yes.”

“It’s a maybe,” Jooheon insists.

“No, it’s definitely a yes,” Lee Minhyuk hums with a goofy smile. “Can we exchange numbers?”

As much as it’s tempting to be a grammar jackass and say, “I dunno, can we?” in the most Changkyun way possible, or to give him Changkyun’s number instead, Jooheon reluctantly hands over his phone to Lee Minhyuk, reluctantly takes Lee Minhyuk’s phone, and reluctantly types down his number down to the last correct digit.

He stares at his phone screen when it’s back in his hands, at the contact name _Lee Minhyuk <3 _ that the man oh so shamelessly saved. _Reminder to self - remove the heart._

“There, now we can be textmates,” the older man cheers, and Jooheon wants to die on the spot with how much joy Lee Minhyuk is absorbing from their encounter. “I gotta unbox a couple more boxes before the semester starts and I’m guessing you’re busy, so I’ll just message you later, honey!”

“H-Honey…?” Jooheon sputters. Does Lee Minhyuk think kissing him gives him the right to call Jooheon cute pet names?

“Heonnie,” Lee Minhyuk says, brows knitting in confusion. “Wow, we really should catch up. I can’t believe you’ve forgotten so much about me. Don’t you remember, I used to call you that all the time.”

No, Jooheon hasn’t forgotten, and he’s 99.99% sure his hearing is sharp enough to distinguish between Heonnie and honey.

“Sorry,” Jooheon says. Then, he realizes, “Wait. Semester?”

“Dinner date with me for more details,” is the playful reply. And, _holy crap_ , Lee Minhyuk even has the audacity to wink at him! “See you tomorrow, Heonnie!”

Jooheon doesn’t even have time to respond with how fast Lee Minhyuk ran back inside his flat and shut it. And he still can’t process that Lee Minhyuk lives across him again.

He sighs to himself. History can go fuck itself for repeating.

The encounter has drained him. Jooheon can’t even fathom why, and he’d rather not. He just wants to take a nap now to calm down. And who knows, maybe he’ll wake up to the reality where meeting Lee Minhyuk again is just a sleep-induced nightmare.

He returns to his own flat, seeing Changkyun _still_ on the damn couch holding his tablet, watching some cooking video.

“Where have you been?” Changkyun asks, eyes not tearing away from the tablet. Jooheon can vaguely hear _protein powder_ ring from the device as Changkyun’s nose crinkles.

“Just… went out for some air.”

“You’re not a good liar.” Why does Changkyun act like he has some sixth sense, really? He’s been able to fool Lee Minhyuk earlier.

“Changkyun-ah.”

“Hmm?” The younger boy finally looks up. “Wow, you look stressed.”

Jooheon sighs. How Changkyun can even speak so nonchalantly is beyond him.

“Changkyun, the loser who stole my first kiss lives across the hall!”

The younger boy doesn’t move a muscle for almost ten seconds. Not even a blink. Not even a breath.

Right, Jooheon hasn’t told Changkyun this story yet. Of course he isn’t going to react.

Or so he thought. “Great, you should go say hi.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you already had your first kiss?!”

How can Jooheon forget Hoseok is also here?!

The older man emerges from the bathroom with the widest eyes and lowest jaw drop, making him look like a squeezed rubber chicken. “Really?!”

“By the ‘loser’ who lives across him, apparently,” Changkyun adds. His expression is plain, but his eyes are absolutely twinkling with interest and, _fuck this guy really_ , amusement.

“No way,” Hoseok says. “No way? No way! Your… your first kiss is Minhyukkie?! I wanna know how? Why?”

“How ‘bout he join us for dinner, hyung? This makes for a good conversation,” Changkyun suggests. Damn this guy, he’s finally smirking.

But Jooheon accedes. He needs to let out his frustrations somehow (with the bonus of free food if he helps out in cooking).

Because the worst part of meeting Lee Minhyuk again is seeing that hyung he had a grudge on for years has grown into a very handsome guy, and he has to rant about how life is so unfair and against him right now.

 

* * *

 

Three hours and one wasted jug of protein powder later, Jooheon finds himself in Hyunwoo’s favorite eatery with the beefy boyfriends and his bemused best friend staring at him. They’ve just finished talking about how Hoseok and Changkyun’s kitchen needed cleaning after their failed cooking shenanigans made the stove almost explode.

“To be fair, that could’ve tasted better than whatever Hyungwon would make.”

“It’s the powder’s fault, hyung.”

Hyunwoo suggests they switch topics, but it’s probably because he doesn’t want to endure secondhand embarrassment from knowing the dumb thing his boyfriend has done. Naturally, “The Tale of Jooheon’s First Kiss,” as Changkyun dubs it, is the hottest thing on their radar.

Jooheon just tells it like how he remembers it–Lee Minhyuk asked him to hang out in the playground, played on the swings for a while with Jooheon, and then stole his first kiss with one smack of the lips.

Unfortunately, none of them reacted the way Jooheon has expected. Changkyun _is_ unpredictable, as usual, but his, “And here I thought you were so stressed because he was dared to kiss you or something, but he said he likes you,” opens up a conversation about past Jooheon’s naïve belief on first kisses. It ends up with Changkyun and Hyunwoo snickering at Disney’s (see: Kihyun’s) influence on Jooheon and teary-eyed Hoseok saying he understands.

Hoseok grins. “It sounds like such a Minhyuk thing to do.”

“Sounds chaotic gay,” Changkyun says.

“He is.” Hoseok chuckles. “But I haven’t seen him kiss anyone ever.”

“You’d be nosy if you did,” Hyunwoo says as he begins distributing deboned chicken pieces onto their plates. Hoseok’s goofy smile emerges as he praises Hyunwoo for his kindness, and Jooheon’s back to feeling slightly jealous of how sweet they are.

“Come to think of it-” Hoseok’s voice becomes more muffled as he stuffs meat in his mouth, “-he never really kissed anyone in high school, I think?”

“Making out is kissing, by the way,” Changkyun reminds. Hoseok looks at him with narrowed eyes.

“I know that! Y-You think I’d spy on a friend making out with someone?”

“Don’t let Hoseok trick you, Changkyun-ah,” Hyunwoo replies before stuffing himself with sliced barbecue pork, kimchi, and rice in one go. Poor Hoseok pouts and lightly smacks Hyunwoo’s arm, only to smile brightly when Hyunwoo glances at him.

Not helping his appetite, but Jooheon digs in to satiate his biological hunger. Thankfully the food is scrumptious enough to kickstart his desire to eat. He can only hear the sounds of gobbling and sipping around their table, and for a moment there Jooheon has forgotten about his woes.

A moment being two minutes before Changkyun spoke.

“What are you planning to do, Joo hyung?”

Jooheon chomps down his barbeque first. “Avoid him, duh.”

Changkyun smirks. “The way you say it makes him sound like such an evil guy.”

“Well, he’s a thief,” Jooheon says in a matter-of-factly tone.

“A thief,” Hyunwoo repeats. His cheeks may be stuffed with food but Jooheon recognizes an amused smile from his favorite hyung no matter what, making the growing unease in his gut blow out of proportion. Why does everyone find this funny?

“Hyung.”

“Jooheon-ah.”

He sighs. “It’s not funny. He stole my first kiss.”

Changkyun doesn’t agree, clearly. “Pfft, whatever you say. But yeah, what’s really funny is that you used to think first kisses are for your endgame true love.”

“W-Well, that’s how my kid self felt! And that’s what Kihyun hyung used to think too!”

“Makes it ten times funnier,” the younger boy snickers.

“Why didn’t you fight him back then?” Hyunwoo asks.

“Maybe he was overwhelmed that he just got his first kiss?” Hoseok tries.

“True,” Hyunwoo hums. “I know my first kiss left me speechless too. Not because I enjoyed it. I guess I relate to Jooheon there.”

“Oh, oh, did you get shocked too because he’s a boy?” Changkyun asks. “I mean, Disney movies, amirite? Princes kiss princesses and not princes.”

"Is that supposed to be a tongue twister?"

"Shut it, Hoseok hyung. I'm serious."

Jooheon blinks. “Well… honestly no? I was more annoyed about my first kiss getting stolen… it doesn’t matter if it’s done by a he or a she.”

“So why didn’t you fight him?” Changkyun repeats.

“I-”

His three friends stare at him with expectancy, but his mind draws a blank.

“...I’m not sure.”

He could have fought Lee Minhyuk before, even he admits that. But he doesn’t remember what has happened right after being kissed apart from Lee Minhyuk’s sunny smile and parting words. Being kissed for the first time filled his mind with fluff and fuzz and left him all frazzled.

But even if he doesn’t remember what has happened after, he does remember how he has felt, whether he likes it or not. Jooheon remembers the warmth of his first kiss-one that lasted for three whole seconds-against his lips frosted from the winter air; he remembers the lightness of the kiss and how soft Lee Minhyuk’s lips have been; he remembers the light grip on his mittened hands when Lee Minhyuk interlaced his fingers with Jooheon’s; he remembers the feather-like flutter of Lee Minhyuk’s eyelashes as he pulled away with a growing boyish smile.

Admittedly, it feels exactly like how a first kiss would. And really, it’s been a perfect confession too.

_I like you, Jooheonnie-ya._

But Lee Minhyuk left afterwards, and deep inside Jooheon knows he still wonders what would've happened if Lee Minhyuk stayed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why am i updating when i'm supposed to be studying lol 
> 
> i hope y'all enjoyed!!! more lee minhyuk next chapter uwu AND SUPPORT MONSTA X'S COMEBACK TOMORROW FAM!!!! AS WELL AS STREAM [MINHYUK'S COVER](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILVnOCd7Peo) PLS PLS PLS thank you <3

**Author's Note:**

> this is for my dearest friend who's going to be busy for more than a month, i hope you enjoy the crack :^) and i'll really really miss you ;-;
> 
> y'all can find me @[tsunkyuns](https://twitter.com/tsunkyuns) or @[tsunwrites](https://twitter.com/tsunwrites)
> 
> 2nd part will be up within the week!


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